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“Meditation on Red”, Text of the Poem, Annotations, and Commentary Are on (Or to Be Added) the Following Pages and Online Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ “Meditation on Red”, text of the poem, annotations, and commentary are on (or to be added) the following pages and online: http://www.dloc.com/AA00061848 Audio: forthcoming Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ MEDITATION ON RED “I feel I've been here for . centuries. Even this winter dates from the dark ages.” – Jean Rhys, letter from Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon 1 1. You, voyager 2. in the dark 3. landlocked 4. at Land Boat Bungalows no. 6 5. never saw this 6. green 7. wide 8. as the sea 9. green 10. limitless 11. the rain 12. that greeted your arrival 13. at Cheriton Fitzpaine 14. You (destiny: 15. storm-tossed) 16. never saw 17. the rolling downs 18. patchworked 19. in emerald, peridot 20. mint, celadon 21. never saw 22. sheep 23. tossed here and there 24. like foam 25. for decoration 26. on this green 27. quilt 28. of Devon. 29. Arrival 30. at Land Boat Bungalows 31. at flood time 32. never rid you of 33. the fear of being 34. the fear of being left 35. the fear of being left 36. high and dry 37. So at no. 6 38. there was 39. perpetual flooding 40. so much drink Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 41. flowing 42. so much tears 43. so much 44. on the edge of 45. but never quite 46. under 47. that quilted 48. green 49. comforter 50. wishing for 51. blue skies 52. wanting 53. but never quite 54. believing 55. your craft 56. to be 57. worthy. 58. Such 59. disappointing 60. harbour 61. (again). 62. “It is very cold,” you write 63. “It gets dark early 64. One meets dark figures . 65. frost and ice are everywhere.” 66. You still had 67. this burning 68. desire 69. to set sail 70. even though 71. (now and always) 72. and despite 73. what long ago 74. the fortune teller 75. said – 76. “I see something great 77. in your hand, something noble” – 78. you were 79. rudderless. 80. Marooned 81. in the grey 82. you decided 83. to garden. Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 84. Since 85. they called you 86. witch 87. you would 88. conjure up 89. bright 90. flowers 91. spelling 92. each other 93. all year. 94. In spring 95. (you wrote) 96. you planted seeds. 97. “I wanted heaps of poppies . 98. Not one came up.” 99. Instead 100. (you wrote) 101. there was sometimes 102. “blue murder 103. in my wicked heart” 104. and a red dress 105. in your closet 106. a “Christmas cracker dress” 107. – the whole village knew and whispered 108. waiting for another explosion 109. (like that 110. which long ago 111. came 112. from the 113. attic). 114. But you 115. in your housecoat 116. frayed 117. round the edges 118. like you Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 119. red 120. like your rages 121. (soothed 122. with a box 123. of pills, red 124. what else?) 125. found 126. there were 127. occasional 128. red-letter days: 129. a dream of red 130. and gilt 131. a dream of 132. getting your face 133. lifted 134. buying 135. a bright red wig 136. to shock 137. and a purple dress 138. with pearls 139. to hoist 140. your spirits 141. (when you voyaged 142. out). 143. Meantime each day 144. you made up 145. your old face 146. carefully 147. for the village 148. children 149. making faces 150. at you 151. who knew 152. how to spell 153. little knowing 154. in that grey mist 155. hanging over 156. Cheriton Fitzpaine 157. how cunningly 158. you masked 159. your pain 160. how carefully 161. you honed 162. your craft 163. how tightly Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 164. you held 165. your pen 166. how brilliantly 167. you planned 168. to write 169. (though they 170. no doubt 171. heard it 172. as “ride”) 173. across that 174. Wide Sargasso. 2 175. Now in the time 176. of that incredible green 177. again 178. in spring 179. in rain 180. I come 181. to the churchyard 182. at Cheriton Fitzpaine 183. Devon 184. knowing 185. you're there 186. Lady 187. sleeping it off 188. under that dark 189. grey 190. stone 191. though it says 192. in a categorical 193. tone: 194. HERE LIE BURIED THE ASHES 195. OF MY BELOVED MOTHER 196. JEAN RHYS, C.B.E., NOVELIST 197. (ELLA GWENDOLEN HAMER) 198. BORN 199. DOMINICA AUGUST 24TH 1890 200. DIED 201. EXETER MAY 14TH 1979. 202. “GOOD MORNING MIDNIGHT.” 203. I've come to 204. wake you Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 205. with spring flowers 206. (the ones 207. you had no 208. luck with 209. growing) 210. – snowdrops 211. daffodils 212. narcissus 213. knowing 214. you would prefer 215. a blanket 216. of red 217. – flame of the forest 218. hibiscus 219. heliconia 220. poinsettia 221. firecracker 222. bougainvillea – 223. for of 224. Mr Rochester's 225. first wife 226. you said: 227. “She is cold 228. – and fire 229. is the only warmth 230. she knows 231. in England.” 232. I apologize. 233. Right now 234. I'm as divided 235. as you were 236. by that sea. 237. But I'll 238. be able to 239. find my way 240. home again 241. for that craft Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 242. you launched 243. is so seaworthy 244. tighter 245. than you'd ever been 246. dark voyagers like me 247. can feel free 248. to sail. 249. That fire 250. you lit 251. our beacon 252. to safe harbour 253. in the islands. 254. I'd like to take 255. with me 256. a picture 257. and though 258. you were never one 259. for photographs 260. or symmetry 261. (except 262. in fiction) 263. it's to be taken 264. by the woman 265. who typed 266. your last 267. book. 268. And though 269. I know you hate 270. to be disturbed 271. just 272. when you've finally 273. settled 274. down 275. I beg you 276. to tear yourself 277. away 278. from that grey stone 279. in the churchyard 280. at Cheriton Fitzpaine 281. for just one moment 282. and – Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ 283. Look, 284. Miss Rhys: 285. No rain! 286. – and see 287. Mary Stephenson 288. standing there 289. at her ease 290. waiting 291. to say 292. to us both: 293. “Smile please.” Annotations to the Poem (prepared by Olive Senior) Note: The meditation is based on a visit the poet made to the grave of the Dominican-born writer Jean Rhys (1890-1979), author of Wide Sargasso Sea, among other books. Rhys spent her final years in the village of Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon, England, where she is buried. Her address was No. 6 Land Boat Bungalows. The poem addresses Rhys and makes references to the titles of many of her books. 210-212] snowdrops, daffodils, narcissus: English spring flowers. 217-222] flame of the forest (Spathodea campanulata); hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis); heliconia (Heliconia bihai.); poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima); firecracker (Russelia equisetiformis)—also called Fountain Bush and Coral Bush; bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra): all tropical flowers with red blooms. Commentary Written by Jordan Stouck, University of British Columbia (Okanagan) and Hyacinth Simpson, Ryerson University. In “Meditation on Red,” the speaker or poetic persona, who self identifies as a writer, directly addresses deceased author Jean Rhys. In the process of recalling some of the highs, lows, and literary achievements in Rhys’s life and writing career, the speaker sees a reflection of her poetic self. But even though it is not an exact reflection (Rhys’s life was filled with upheavals and personal trauma, for example) the speaker acknowledges Rhys as a literary influence. Both the flowers that the speaker brings to Rhys’s grave and the poem itself are a tribute to the Dominican-born writer. In the poem, one of the important genealogical links between the speaker and Rhys is their shared experience as migrants—of being Caribbean writers living away Poems from Olive Senior’s Gardening in the Tropics, www.dloc.com/olivesenior “Meditation on Red”: http://www.dloc.com/l/AA00061848/ from and writing about the place of their birth. For example, in lines 234-236, the poetic persona admits to feeling “as divided” as Rhys did “by that sea.” “That sea”—the Sargassos Sea1which appears in the title of what is perhaps Rhys’s most famous work—is at the centre of the poem’s network of water-based imagery. This network of images allows Senior to craft a poem that highlight’s Rhys’s experience as voyager and outsider.
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